Please help me identify this garden pest!

[BettyButterknife]

Digging out an old pot I found some huge white maggot-type critters

My mum said she thought they were vine weevils, but a cursory Google says not, as these bugs are at least an inch in length which seems too big for vine weevils.

Can anyone help? I suspect they were in there during an entire season of sweet peas growing and flowering as normal... Mother says to GET RID OF THEM IMMEDIATELY AND DISINFECT EVERYTHING. Seems a bit dramatic but I'm likely to pay more attention to an impartial recommendation than my v bossy rather forthright mother.

Do they have a reddish-brown head? If so, then def vine devils. Bin all your contaminated compost and disinfect as your mum says.

If they've had a whole season in there, they could easily be that big, and ready to pupate any time. You don't want a herd of adults wandering around laying eggs everywhere. Did you know that they don't need males? A male vine weevil hasn't ever been identified.

There are a few different beetle larvae that sound like what you've found, you could do a google image search but they all look quite similar to me Have you seen many beetles in the garden?

Ewww, gross... I'm too squeamish to go and check their heads. What should I disinfect with? No, haven't seen any beetles but think the vine weevil ones are nocturnal, aren't they?

Blurgh.

We do get quite a lot of rose chafer beetles, come to think of it... oh my god, this is totally them!!!

Do I still have to get rid?

I have been finding them in the roots of some perennials I've been splitting. I think that they are chafer grubs. Mine aren't vile evil vine weevils - these have a redder head and are much larger. I've been feeding mine to the chickens.

I have nothing else to contribute, sorry.